The Christmas rush to send colorful holiday stockings filled with a taste of home to active duty troops is over, but that does not mean volunteers at Operation Shoebox of The Villages are slowing down. Every Monday afternoon, year-round, hundreds of Villagers gather at Lake Miona Recreation Center to fill cloth bags with treats, puzzles, books and more to send to people serving their country, often thousands of miles from home. While the volunteers are willing and there is always a request for services, Operation Shoebox had to cut back on the number of bags and stockings shipped in 2017. “We spent about $125,000 on postage (in 2017),” said Camille Gieck, leader of Operation Shoebox of The Villages. “In 2016, we spent more than $268,000 — a significant drop in one year.”Read this story and many others in Thursday’s edition of the Daily Sun.

Source: Daily Sun February 08, 2018 13:07 UTC